The LTR is a working railway in our back garden. On this page you will find some photos of the railway as it is now, but it is under constant development as our garden changes. I hope that you find this of interest, and if you have any questions, please e-mail me at ltr@johnjbowen.com

The railway has been working since the early 1980s, and is now at its fourth location. We run a mixture of battery and steam power (meths and gas fired) to broadly 16mm scale on 32mm gauge track (SM32) and with a variety of kit and hand build rolling stock. Radio control is not permitted on the LTR; all driving is by hand.

The LTR is a working line, in that it is there to help with some of the routine gardening tasks, so there is limited use of passenger rolling stock. Most trains are formed of open wagons which have been built to serve a specific purpose.

Above - No4 Clochemerle

Below - No3 Liddington Clump on Garden Maintenance train duties.

The C&W Dept have had a good clear out of things we don't think fit in with future needs,
and you may have been one of the lucky ones who bid for them on eBay. More things will be coming up for sale as we evolve our retirement plans. We were pleased to see our railway featured in the October 2006 issue of Garden Rail where we were able to explain some of our operating philosophy.

We sometimes get asked where we get our loco names from? Click here to find out more; LTR Loco Names

The line draws inspiration from a variety of sources; the Welsh 2ft narrow gauge, particularly those around Snowdonia, the Tiptree & Tollesbury Light Railway in Essex, the Lynton & Barnstaple Railway, and the lines of Col. Stephens. It is not based on any of these, though you will see some influences: The curved tops to the open wagon ends are a nod to the L&B for example, and the policy of using anything that is to hand in the construction and use of the line continues the traditions of the good Colonel's methods.

Credit is also due to those garden railwaymen whose lines featured in Railway Modeller and Model Railways back in the mid to late 1970s, and from which my own interest and enthusiasm grew. Amongst others, Jack Wheldon, Dave Pinnegar and, of course, Mr Merlin, Tom Cooper - sincere thanks to you all.

Latest News:
As we ran through the garden chores of the 2006 Summer, the need for a reliable instant access loco is more and more apparent, so I P Engineering were contacted for a Lucy kit with 4 wheel drive, and that arrived very promptly the day after ordering; many thanks IP!. All being well we can quickly get that into service as LTR No.18 and then No.2 Toby can be retired for a chassis transplant as his old Lima running gear needs replacement; it has put in 20 years service after all!

As 2007 has arrived we've taken the decision to sell the steam locos off. Not an easy decision as you can imagine, but the railway has been completely mothballed now and is unlikely to see the light of day this year. Whether or not we'll start again now is open to question so, rather than see the steamers start to deteriorate in the loft we've decided that they should be found new homes. No4 has already left for Buckinghamshire and No3 will be on her way to Hampshire later this week. Thanks to those who have contacted me through this site regarding the sales and we hope that their new owners give Nos 3 & 4 plenty of work on their new lines.